President George W Bush spoke to members of the Asia Society at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in Washington on February 22, a day before he left for a trip to Southeast Asia.
The US President spoke about his upcoming trip to India and Pakistan and said that he was happily anticipating his next meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and working on taking the strategic partnership between India and the United States to a new level. As an aside Bush mentioned to the audience that India has a Sikh prime minister and a Muslim President and that he was looking forward to meeting them both.
The full text: George W Bush's speech top the Asia Society
He described India as a 'natural partner' for the US and stressed that India needs to move aggressively to separate its civilian and military nuclear programmes so that the Indo-US nuclear agreement would not be jeopardised.
Bush commented on India's growth and how its 300 million strong middle class -- 'Think about that. That's greater than the entire population of the United States' -- offered an opportunity for American goods. He said: "Younger Indians are acquiring a taste for pizza at Domino's and Pizza Hut. And Air India ordered 68 planes valued at more than $11 billion from Boeing."
'Madam President, it's got a nice ring to it'
At the gathering Raminder Singh Jassal (in the blue turban in the audience picture above), Deputy Chief of Mission at the Indian Embassy and charge d'affaires, was present. So too was Pakistani Ambassador Jehangir Karamat.
Also see: The agenda for Bush's visit
'We have an ambitious agenda with India'
Photographs: Mark Wilson/Getty Images
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